Baylor University report designed as a resource for Texas ISDs looking to improve school breakfast participation

WACO, Texas (March 3, 2014) – Not every student who receives free and reduced-price lunch at the school cafeteria eats a solid breakfast before boarding the bus. In Texas, where 27.6 percent of children are considered food-insecure, the public school system is a primary infrastructure for reigning in childhood hunger.

In conjunction with National School Breakfast Week (March 3-7, 2014), the Texas Hunger Initiative, based out of the Baylor University School of Social Work, has released the second edition of its Texas School Breakfast Report Card, demonstrating what participation in school breakfast programs looks like across the state. Designed with school administrators and nutrition personnel in mind, the Texas School Breakfast Report Card provides an introduction to child hunger in Texas while also laying out pragmatic models for breakfast distribution in schools, a breakdown of associated benefits, success stories and suggested goals for school officials trying to create a healthy, hunger-free learning environment.

“The Texas School Breakfast Report Card is unique because it summarizes the state of the School Breakfast Program in Texas. There is no state-level resource that summarizes the program while also providing a layout of eligibility and participation numbers by every county and district in Texas,” said Kathy Krey, Ph.D., director of research for the Texas Hunger Initiative. “THI developed the report as a program outreach and advocacy tool. The resource is invaluable for anyone interested in maximizing the social and health impact of the School Breakfast Program.”

What is the Texas School Breakfast Report Card?

The report catalogues two sets of data intended to help Texas school officials understand the state of school breakfast in their districts and the potential for growth. The first table frames school breakfast participation over the previous three years. The other is a projection of the impact in terms of what student participation and additional federal funding might look like if 70 percent of children eligible for free and reduced-price lunch ate breakfast at school.

Since each Texas county and respective school districts are represented in the piece, THI’s Texas School Breakfast Report Card offers a detailed look at school breakfast participation in each Texas county and school district.

Among the key findings from the Texas School Breakfast Report Card for the 2012-2013 academic year:

• Texas served 309,916,119 breakfasts during the 2012-2013 school year for a state reimbursement of $485,323,072.

• At the end of the 2012-2013 school year, Texas had 61 percent statewide participation in the School Breakfast Program (per 100 students eating free or reduced-price lunch).

• If each Texas school district reached the goal of serving 70 low-income students per 100 low-income students eating lunch, the state would receive an additional $84,635,101 in federal reimbursement.

• The following Texas independent school districts doubled (at least) their breakfast participation rates between the 2010-2011 and 2012-2013 school years: Hart, Spurger, Garner, Alice, Lovejoy and Dilley ISDs.

According to Erin Nolen, research project manager at the Texas Hunger Initiative (THI), breaking down the data by county and by school district has been “invaluable” to outreach efforts because it allows the report to serve as a practical resource to THI field staff when meeting with local school officials.

“Our field staff are able to point to the report and say, ‘Here’s what your school breakfast participation looks like and here’s what it could be if you were to reach the goal of 70 percent participation, in terms of the number of students that would be impacted and the funding you would receive,’” Nolen said. “It’s an all-in-one resource that includes both the data component as well as the program overview component.”

Grace Norman, a child hunger outreach specialist for THI’s Lubbock Regional Office, said the report is also helpful in that the stories of success in increasing school breakfast participation in other regions are presented side by side with the data.

“It brings credibility to our advocacy efforts in schools to be able to show that such research has been conducted and is currently being conducted to stay up to date with the school year,” Norman said.

Alternative Breakfast Models/Success Stories

Texas public and open-charter schools are required to participate in the School Breakfast Program if 10 percent of the student body qualifies for free and reduced-price lunches. The federal program funds morning meals for those students who are considered low-income.

Unfortunately, hungry students can miss out on breakfast when program application models are not fully maximized.

“Research has shown that participation tends to be lower when breakfast is served in the cafeteria before school starts,” Norman said. “I advocate with school districts who have experienced low participation in breakfast to serve breakfast in different ways that might better fit their schools’ needs while helping to overcome stigmas and social barriers that tend to be present with the traditional school breakfast model.”

The report details some of these “different ways” schools might apply their breakfast programs. Examples of alternative models that have shown positive results are serving breakfast in the classroom or out of kiosks stationed around hallways.

Jon Coker, a second-year assistant principal at Connally Junior High School in McLennan County, has been in education for 11 years, but this is his first time to serve as an administrator at a school that offers an alternative breakfast model. Connally offers the Universal School Breakfast program, which allows schools to offer breakfast at no charge to all students, regardless of income status.

“Everyone gets breakfast now. There is still some stigma with lunch, because it’s obvious who has to pay versus who just goes through the line,” Coker said. “But the Universal program has done some to help alleviate that at breakfast.”

Coker said that he has also noticed a difference in punctuality and attendance.

“Before the program was implemented, students who struggle to afford meals at school knew they couldn’t buy breakfast, so they were just straggling in,” Coker said. “But now that they can get a breakfast here, I see more kids coming to school on time, either riding the bus or their parents dropping them off.”

Research on the Horizon

The Texas Hunger Initiative also has engaged in research analyzing the social and health impact of the universal-free Breakfast in the Classroom model in select elementary schools in a large Texas school district. The findings of the research are forthcoming.

Contributors to the Texas School Breakfast Report include:

• Erin Nolen, Texas Hunger Initiative research project manager, who managed and coordinated development of the project from a research perspective;

• Christine Browder, Texas Hunger Initiative No Kid Hungry campaign manager, who co-managed development of the project from a programmatic and outreach perspective;

• Tiffany Gallegos, Baylor University graduate assistant and Master of Social Work candidate, who wrote and compiled content; and

• Ashley Yeaman, Texas Hunger Initiative social media and communications coordinator, who designed the report.

ABOUT BAYLOR UNIVERSITY

Baylor University is a private Christian university and a nationally ranked research institution, characterized as having “high research activity” by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. The university provides a vibrant campus community for approximately 15,000 students by blending interdisciplinary research with an international reputation for educational excellence and a faculty commitment to teaching and scholarship. Chartered in 1845 by the Republic of Texas through the efforts of Baptist pioneers, Baylor is the oldest continually operating university in Texas. Located in Waco, Baylor welcomes students from all 50 states and more than 80 countries to study a broad range of degrees among its 11 nationally recognized academic divisions. Baylor sponsors 19 varsity athletic teams and is a founding member of the Big 12 Conference.

ABOUT THE BAYLOR SCHOOL OF SOCIAL WORK

The Baylor University School of Social Work is home to one of the leading graduate social work programs in the nation with a research agenda focused on the integration of faith and practice. Upholding its mission of preparing social workers in a Christian context for worldwide service and leadership, the School offers a baccalaureate degree (BSW), a Master of Social Work (MSW) degree, a PhD degree, and three joint-degree options (MSW/Master of Business Administration, MSW/Master of Divinity and MSW/Master of Theological Studies) through a partnership with Baylor’s Hankamer School of Business and George W. Truett Theological Seminary. Visit www.baylor.edu/social_work to learn more.

ABOUT THE TEXAS HUNGER INITIATIVE

The Texas Hunger Initiative (THI) is a collaborative, capacity-building project focused on ensuring that every Texan has access to three nutritious meals a day, seven days a week. THI develops and implements strategies to end hunger and reduce poverty through research, policy, education and community development. THI convenes federal, state and local government stakeholders with nonprofits, faith communities and business leaders to create an efficient system of accountability that increases food security in Texas and beyond. Headquartered at the Baylor University School of Social Work, THI has 12 regional offices located in Amarillo, Austin, Dallas, El Paso, Fort Worth, Houston, Lubbock, McAllen, San Angelo, San Antonio, Tyler and Waco. Visit www.baylor.edu/texashunger to learn more.